The Truth
by dracoflippinmalfoy
Summary: "I do not, nor ever will, love you!" James and Lily have a meeting in a broom closet. This cannot end well.
1. Chapter 1

Lily woke up feeling warm and cozy, as a ray of sunlight had snuck through the curtains and on to her back. Then the guilt and memories washed over her like a bucket of ice-cold water.

_She had hurt James Potter. _

James and Lily had always had a rocky relationship, but yesterday was the last straw. They had always shouted at each other but their insults had always been feeble and never quite managed to actually _hurt_. Yesterday was the exception.

_"__Evans?" _

_"__Oh, GO AWAY JAMES!" _

_"__James? I'm not James."_

_She turned around and saw herself face to face with Sirius Black, an impish grin set on his lips. "Well you're not much better," she snapped. _

_"__You love me really" smirked Sirius. "I came to ask you if you would like the pleasure of taking a walk with me?"_

_"__I'm not going anywhere with you, Black." What was he doing? _

_"__Fine, let me rephrase that, you're going on a walk with me." He grabbed her arm and dragged her away from her books._

_"__Get off me!" she cried. He said nothing, just kept dragging her down a corridor. Finally, they reached a small door and then Lily realized what was happening. "Black, get your filthy hands off of me! I'm not going into a broom closet with you, never in a million years!" _

_'__Who said anything about going in there with me? And I'm hurt, I really am." He chucked Lily into the closet and slammed the door behind her. _

_"__BLACK! LET ME OUT NOW!" Lily shrieked._

_"__Its no use, I already tried." Said a voice in the darkness._

_"__Who are you? If that is Potter and this is another stupid prank, I will personally-"_

_"__Hey, calm down, it is James but I have nothing to do with this, I swear! _

_"__Swear on your life?"_

_"__Big thing to swear upon, but yes, I swear on my life." _

_Lily felt a little bit better. It was one thing to be stuck in a closet with James Potter who had no idea what was going on as well, and other thing to be stuck in a closet with James Potter and this being a prank. She had enough of The Marauders pranks to last her a lifetime. _

_"__Well we might as well put this time to good use," said James._

_"__What are you suggesting?"_

_"__Will you go out with me?"_

_Lily was so angry with Potter and Black for tricking her she just said these next words without thinking._

_"__Potter, get this into your thick head! I do not, nor ever will, love you!"_

_She gasped. Whenever James asked her out, she always found different ways to say no, but this was a whole different level. Even in the dark, she could tell James was standing still with shock and there was hurt etched all over his face. He made no effort to hide it. _

_Suddenly the door was thrown open and Lily blinked at the sudden light. Sirius Black was standing in the doorway; he had obviously heard the whole thing. _

_Lily ran out of the closet and all the way back to Gryffindor tower, where she fell straight to sleep._

She replayed her own words in her mind. "_I do not, nor ever will, love you!" _Suddenly she felt a feeling that had never made itself known until then.

She had lied.

She did love James Potter.

And now she had ruined it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I am not Jk Rowling, duh.**

**A/N: I am new at this whole thing so do forgive me if some of it is a bit iffy, hope you enjoy =)**

* * *

He laughed.

Lily flinched.

He smiled.

Lily melted…until she realized that James was not smiling at her. He was with a snobby, stuck-up Ravenclaw, who seemed to think that she had been given permission to let her hands roam free over James. Then again, she might have been. Lily tried not to think about it too much.

Even Sirius Black was avoiding her, which she was half-relieved, half annoyed about. Lily didn't like Sirius in the first place but even she liked the attention sometimes.

She slouched into the magnificent Great Hall and spotted James right away. Deciding it was best to avoid him, she snuck back out before anyone saw her. Then she collided with a solid human form and fell to the floor. She glanced up and saw James. _But that's impossible! I just saw him in the Great Hall?!_

"Um…sorry" he stuttered. That was it. He was gone.

Feeling disappointed that he hadn't helped her up, Lily stood.

She walked down endless corridors, not really wanting to go anywhere. While passing a Transfiguration classroom, she got a glimpse of what was inside: James and that snooty Ravenclaw were… well… busy. Lily was starting to believe that she was hallucinating; James couldn't possibly have beaten her to the classroom.

Intending to clear her head, Lily headed out onto the grounds to sit by the lake. While perching underneath a large silver birch, she looked up and did a double take. James was sitting not so far away, having a laugh with The Marauders.

_Breathe Lily. You're just under stress. But what if I'm hallucinating? _

Making her way back up to the castle, she formed a plan in her head. She was to confront James and tell him how she felt, t. But oddly enough, when Lily didn't want to see him, there he was. Now that she was looking for him, he seemed to vanish. He drove her insane sometimes.

When she finally found him, walking down the Charms corridor, all the determination she had before had evaporated.

_What if he doesn't like me back? What will happen if I make a fool of myself? What am I going to do?_

Walking sulkily back to Gryffindor Tower, Lily let her mind wander and let her feet take her.

_Where is James? I hope he's not with that Ravenclaw, I just want to tear out her fingers just for touching him. Is he thinking about me? Maybe he's forgotten about me? Oh no… I've become obsessed!_

She found herself gazing dreamily at the Fat Lady, expecting it to open for her, but then she remembered she needed a password.

_Dam, what was it again? Bubblegum? Blueberries? _

"Geez, I should take a picture, Lily Evans forgot something? Never happened before." Of course it would be him. He had a smirk on his face that did not quite reach his eyes. "Bubbleberries" he added, talking to the Fat Lady.

They brushed shoulders and Lily's heart stopped. James thought nothing of it. _Typical. _It was too much. "James, talk to me, I'm sorry about what I said, I wasn't thinking!" she blurted out. He blinked, a look of surprise on his face.

"Ok, I forgive you."

* * *

**A/N: Ok, that was mean, cliffhanger, not much happened here apart from Lily realising that she cant live with James :O Shock Horror**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Stating the obvious, I'm not Jk Rowling.**

**New Chapters are coming soon =) Enjoy.**

* * *

" Ok, I forgive you."

He said the words forcefully, like he didn't mean them. And he didn't. Lily had hit a sore patch of his heart. He had been hurt by Lily before, every time she said no stung him. He had cried before because it was obvious that Lily didn't feel the same way about him as he did about her. He told himself that one day, if he kept trying, she would eventually love him. Until she had said those words that sank their teeth so deep into his heart, the pain was unbearable. One quick "sorry" wasn't enough.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I suppose" he sighed and started to walk up to his dorm. When he got there he flung himself on his bed, expecting tears but none came. Ignoring Remus and Peter he took a shower and this time not just hot water came down his face, but salty water too.

The next day came and James unwillingly pulled himself out of bed and dressed. Sirius had come back from his 'meeting' with a Gryffindor girl late last night. James accompanied him down into the common room. Lily was already there, sitting in a comfy chair by the fire. She looked up hopefully but James ignored her and walked through the portrait.

Meeting up with Caroline, a vaguely pretty girl from Ravenclaw, in the Entrance Hall. She kissed his cheek affectionately and James could almost feel the emerald green eyes piercing his back. _Maybe she does like you. _He put the thought to one side and carried on walking.

"James?" asked a whiny voice next to him.

"What?" he replied, maybe a bit too harshly.

" When are we going to be official?"

"What do you mean?" she pouted and said,

"I mean when am I going to be your girlfriend?"

"Oh…well…um…soon" James said, lamely.

"Ok then." She reached up, grabbed his hair and pulled him into a passionate kiss in which he did not return. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lily Evans drop everything she was holding, which was a lot of books, and run off, tears running from her face.

* * *

"What did I do, Padfoot?" James asked Sirius later that day.

"Man, and here I thought you were clever! It's obvious, isn't it? She likes you!"

"What?"

"She likes you," he said slowly, like he was speaking to a three year old. "Shouldn't you be jumping up and down like a lunatic and doing a victory dance? You've wanted this for years."

"Oh, shut up, Padfoot" he snapped. Inside, James felt a glimmer of hope. _She likes you. _

The words were still ringing in his ears as he fell asleep.

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** Dun dun dur! Hope you liked it =) Next one will hopefully have more action in it and will possibly be a bit longer =)**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling. Enjoy =)**_

* * *

Sirius chuckled. " This is going to be the best prank ever!" he said, gleefully.

"Don't get your hopes too high, Padfoot," warned Remus, "You could get hurt."

"Oh, cheer up Moony, it's not illegal to have fun." James said. "Isn't that right Peter?"

"What? Um…whatever you say," squeaked Peter.

"That's my boy!" shouted Sirius. "Right, you take these Filibuster's Wet-Start Fireworks and keep them hidden!" Sirius said to James.

"Will do." James pocketed them. They were going to coax the Giant Squid out of the lake and attach the fireworks to the underside of it. When it goes back into the water, the Giant Squid will be known as The Flying Squid. Genius. All his idea, of course.

They headed towards the Great Hall with mischievous grins on their faces. James saw Lily Evans staring dreamily at the ceiling. This morning it was a beautiful sunrise, lighting up the Great Hall with an orange sort of glow. James plopped himself down next to Sirius, who was conversing in low whispers about their plans.

"All meet in the Entrance Hall after Transfiguration. Don't be late, that means you James. No detours." Sirius said sternly. Funnily enough, the only time when Sirius was serious was when it involved pranks.

Chuckling to himself about his own little joke, he took a sip of Pumpkin Juice. Because he was laughing and drinking at the same time, Sirius thought he was choking and thumped him on the back. James slopped juice all down himself.

"Padfoot, seriously?"

"Oh right, sorry mate"

James could feel the juice seeping into his pockets where the fireworks were. _Oh no._

BANG!

The Filibuster's Wet-Start Fireworks went off in James' face and then there was darkness.

James woke up in the hospital wing feeling groggy. Sirius was watching him from the visitor chair, next to the bed. His face split into a huge grin when he saw James awake. James vaguely noticed Madame Pomfrey fussing around a boy in the next bed.

"You alright mate?"

"Urgh…I'm going back to sleep."

"That's cool, just leave me to stare at you for hours again" Sirius said, mocking being sulky.

"Hey, I didn't ask you to sit there! How long was I out?"

"A day"

"Urgh, goodnight"

Later that same day, James woke slightly and found, not Sirius, but two very vibrant green eyes staring at him. In his slightly sleepy state, he could have sworn the girl's hair was on fire.

James smiled as he felt the darkness swallow him up.

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**Three guesses who the girl is ;) I had fun writing this so i hope you had fun reading =)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Duh!**

**A/N: Chapter 5, here you go guys =)**

* * *

Lily felt worried, very worried. James had been in the hospital for over a day and missed all of his classes. She had taken the liberty of duplicating all her notes for him because she didn't trust Sirius as his only form of education. She figured Remus would do that but he doesn't have the same classes as James.

There was something else that she was worried about. James had said he forgave her but somehow she didn't quite believe him. When he had said, "Ok, I forgive you" there had been a coldness in his voice that Lily did not recognize.

She visited him in the Hospital Wing often, carefully avoiding Sirius. James just lies there, very pale. Every time she looks at him, her heart lurches. She could have sworn he opened his eyes once, but he didn't move a muscle, so Lily ignored it.

Lily took James' absence as a chance to call a truce with the remaining Marauders.

"Remus?" she asked, on the way to Charms. No reply. "Remus?" she said, more urgently.

"What?" he replied, coldly.

"How are you?" she asked, ignoring the icy reply.

"Fine", then he walked off.

This was going to be harder than she thought. _Maybe if I start with the weakest link? _

* * *

"Hello, Peter" she said, cheerfully.

"Um…hello", squeaked a nervous Wormtail.

"Whatcha doing?"

"Reading"

"Oh, what are you reading?"

"A book." Lily sighed.

"Ok then. Have you seen James recently?"

"Yes"

Lily had had enough. She exploded.

"WHAT DID I DO WRONG? I'VE APOLOGISED, NOTHING! I'VE TRIED TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT BUT I'VE HAD NO RESPONSE!" The whole common room was looking at her now. "CAN YOU AT LEAST TRY TO FORGIVE ME?" Peter was almost cowering behind the sofa at her outburst.

"Whoa, ever thought about doing Quidditch commentary, you wouldn't need the microphone! You've got quite the voice, we could hear you in the corridor!"

Lily swiveled round and saw the two boys she was complaining about, James and Sirius. It was Sirius who had spoken. James whispered something to Sirius and he then began to clear everyone out of the common room. "Everyone out! Go to bed, take a shower, do stuff!" There were a few complaints but mostly just left. When the common room was empty Sirius said, "Well my work here is done, I'll leave you two to do…stuff. Cheerio!"

Lily and James were alone.

"So, your back from hospital then" Lily said, trying to break the silence.

"Yeah, Madame Pomfrey said I was perfectly fine as I'd been awake most of the time."

"Huh, whenever I visited, you were always asleep."

"Oh, well you must have caught me at the wrong time."

Somehow, Lily didn't believe that.

"Yeah. I copied out some notes for you, so you can keep up."

"Nah, I'll be alright, I'll just borrow Padfoot's" It took Lily a while to realize whom he was talking about but then she remembered the boy's nicknames.

"You trust Sirius for your Potion notes? He could get you to blow something up."

"All the more reason, it will be fun." Lily suddenly realized how close they were. Looking into his chocolate eyes, she saw he was holding back a strong emotion, pain, maybe?

She was aware of every bone in her body. Her hips were touching his. Closer, closer. Her eyelashes were tickling the tip of his nose now. Closer. They were half a centimeter away from kissing. Her heartbeat was rising. Then…

"Whoops, sorry!" Sirius had come back down to get something.

"Sirius?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna kill you."

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**A/N: Sorry!, I couldn't have them kiss just yet! LOL Sirius!**


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